The federal government is setting aside $660 million over the next five years for national sport organizations that have faced mounting deficits for years.
Tuesday’s spring economic update promises $110 million annually after that to boost to funding for national sport organizations that had remained largely static for two decades.
Following this year’s Olympics in Milano-Cortina, which saw Canada’s weakest Winter Games medal count since 2002, the Canadian Olympic Committee issued an urgent plea for increased funding.
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The Canadian Olympic and Paralympic committees lobbied unsuccessfully for a $144-million increase in annual core funding for national sport organizations in the 2025 budget.
Ottawa has indicated it wants national sport organizations to spread the new money across all levels of sport and not to reserve it just for high-level athletes in international competition.
Ottawa also says the money is meant to build up a strong and safe sport system, following a call from the Future of Sport in Canada Commission for funding to allow all national sport organizations to hire their own safe sport officers.
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